Abstract
This study was performed in order to determine the influence of clinical experience and age on nurse career development, as viewed from the self-evaluation of "ability".
1. Subjects who participated in this study ranged in age from their 20's (56.2%) to their 50's, most of them having experience of more than 15 years.
2. Factor analytic studies of self-evaluation of ability extracted five factors.
The factors were: cooperation, reliability, planning, logic, and perseverance.
3. Based on a comparison of the age groups, three factors showed recognizable differences: reliability, planning, and logic. The three factors showed higher scores for the older age group.
4. Based on a comparison of the number of years of clinical experience, recognizable differences were found in four factors : reliability, planning, logic, and perseverance. These factors showed higher scores for those with longer clinical experience.
